Coming home: a Bad Company 2 server to call your own

Why is having your own server for your favorite game so important for PC …

It costs $210 to rent a Bad Company 2 server for six months from Game Servers. Two months of that was wrangled from our gaming budget, I paid for a month out of my own pocket, and three months were paid for by other members of the ArsClan community. We chose Chicago as the location of our server, to try to keep the pings low for as many people as possible. The night the game went live I began experimenting with the server tools, and soon gave admin rights to a few other gamers to keep the server going when I wasn't around.

Bad Company 2 allows for dedicated servers, but you can't run them on your own hardware. Unlike the servers I've run for Left 4 Dead and Killing Floor, I wouldn't have access to the .ini file to adjust settings on my own; you need third-party admin tools to adjust your server and change the settings. This is a step down from what we're used to, but it's still worlds better than Modern Warfare 2's completely hands-off solution.

Still, why go to the trouble?

What having your own servers gets you

Our server is the official home for both Ars Technica and ArsClan players on Bad Company 2, and you can find us in the server browser by simply looking for those names. Ars Clan, the multiplayer community, has a long history of building communities around the Battlefield titles, and the beta of Bad Company 2 had ignited everyone's interest again. The idea of running our own server came naturally when we became tired of finding places to play.

That's why controlling your own server beats match-making so handily. When you leave, the server is still there. It feels as if it occupies a physical space, playing host to a virtual war that never ends. You begin to learn the schedule of the regular players. If you're on the Ventrillo server, you hear their kids and wives in the background. You pick up on what classes certain others enjoying playing, and learn to be afraid if someone who is good with vehicles jumps in a tank. Sometimes it's interesting to to put on a headset just to listen to the radio chatter between players to get a feel for the game being played before entering the server, listening to the complaints of the other players, hearing them suck air between their teeth after a particularly good kill and curse the other side after being shot themselves.

When you join the server as a regular, you can expect people to welcome you, to ask how you're doing, to give you some idea of how the game is going. "Stasis is on," someone said the last time I jumped on. "Why not spawn engineer and do something about that tank?" Someone else snorts. "Or maybe just TK me with the Carl Gustav a few more times." People on your regular server remember you, know what you can do well, and what you handle poorly. It's like wandering into a virtual bar, only on certain nights you might find more sobriety at the pub.

Accountability is king

The best defense against cheats and exploits isn't anything technical on the side of the publisher or server, but in playing with and against those you know. You're held accountable for how you act and what you say. Subscribing to Wheaton's law, you're allowed to not get along with someone, but you're not allowed to blow your top. Enforcement is rarely necessary; this is a self-correcting problem. The community around the game simply wants to play with others who like having a good time, and have a low tolerance for anything else.

The game is far from perfect; server stability has been a joke since launch. The in-game server browser is slow and mostly broken. The Carl Gustav needs to be dialed down a little in hardcore mode. In fact, one of the most popular topics of conversation while playing Bad Company 2 is grousing about Bad Company 2. Don't take the complaints too seriously, however, because the same people are going to be online the next day, playing just as hard.

A server allows a sense of community and belonging that can't be replicated by anything a game without real servers offers, although Xbox Live can come close with its cross-game chat and friend system. This is what people want from the PC gaming experience: the ability to tweak the game's settings, control the multiplayer, and play against others who feel the same way. There are no mods for Bad Company 2, but what is there has been enough to keep the community going strong since launch.

There will be other games that try to replicate the success of Modern Warfare 2, and many won't offer dedicated servers. That's fine, it just makes the decision about what to play a little easier. One of the few players on the server chimed up in chat one night and told us everything we need to know about the worth of what we were doing. "Great server!!" he typed. "Do you guys have a website?"

The server is paid off for the next five months or so, but what then? When the question was put to the community, enough people volunteered to pay for a month that the server could be kept running for the next two years. Once people move into a game, it can be hard to kick them out.

Dedicated servers are definitely nice.. but it still sounds a little gimped to not REALLY be able to run your own in this case. You're still missing out on some features and control by the rental requirement. Not to mention, paying money for something like this when you may already have the resources otherwise by virtue of being a geek is a little annoying.

But removal of control and customizations is the trend going forward these days, isn't it?

This article makes me want to pick it up and start playing. I am getting it on PS3, but I miss the PC elements you mentioned in the article. When I had a gaming capable PC I would play TF2 on a few servers and it's nice playing with people you know, at least in the virtual realm. Maybe I'll throw together a mid-level gaming PC for this.

I didn't know that Ars had its own BC2 server. Is teamplay encouraged? Team balance maintained? Camping Recons mocked openly? Very difficult to have a good game of BC2 I find. Although the game has potential it often turns into a spamfest of whatever explosives people can stack themselves with.

I find your since of friendly community and fair gaming atmosphere refreshing and hopeful. After playing with all of the hacks on COD 4 and not wanting to deal with the Microsoft atmosphere on MW 2 I'm thinking of trying Bad Company 2 I enjoy the kind of interaction between people that you have describe and look forward to checking it out I go by N2iT hope to see you around.

This is great. I can definitely relate to the atmosphere you describe and I think it really is an important part of my gaming experience. I play the old Day of defeat occasionally and often I just join because i miss the ppl and the feeling (this old game only has like five playable servers, so you get to know ppl)

The Ars Clan/Ars T server has been totally borked for 3 nights in a row. Some seriously screwed up stuff somewhere. When it is up and working it's great. Better team work there then just about every other server I've been on.

Running your own server is lost in BF2 and I have no idea why people even hype it or condone it. This kind of gaming model seriously needs to die.

Removal of running any sort of user created content.Forced renting of server even if you already have, and paying for, resources to do this yourself.

If you think you 'control your own server' with the above two options completely removed from you then you really need to open your eyes. Or you were born in the last 2 years when developers/publishers started charging us more for less features.

It's the Carl Gustaf, with an F. To be honest, I always thought that it was Gustav as well. It's definitely my favorite anti-armor weapon in the game. The RPG-7 doesn't pack enough punch and the AT4's command guidance makes it hard to shoot and scoot.

Personally, I don't like Hardcore mode. The lack of crosshairs makes the shotguns all but useless, especially with slugs. At least it does with the Saiga-20.

Why not pick a game that doesn't leave you begging others to fix you server for this? Or are you trying to sell that no dedicated serves is a good thing somehow? You get to pay for a game and then also a lot for the server that you have hardly any control over.

Why not pick a game that doesn't leave you begging others to fix you server for this? Or are you trying to sell that no dedicated serves is a good thing somehow? You get to pay for a game and then also a lot for the server that you have hardly any control over.

I'd say you get pretty good control over the server, outside of 3rd party mods. Personally, I've never really enjoyed downloading two or three dozen silly sound bytes from a low-bandwidth server just to hear Homer Simpson comment on a headshot. That said, there are quite a few custom maps that I've had fun with over the years.

It's the Carl Gustaf, with an F. To be honest, I always thought that it was Gustav as well. It's definitely my favorite anti-armor weapon in the game. The RPG-7 doesn't pack enough punch and the AT4's command guidance makes it hard to shoot and scoot.

I do enjoy playing on the ARS server, but there are long periods of time where it never appears online in my browser. Is that the browser having a issue or is that the server reliability you mentioned? Also... with some servers going down so often does the hosting company give you a break or not?

I didn't know that Ars had its own BC2 server. Is teamplay encouraged? Team balance maintained? Camping Recons mocked openly? Very difficult to have a good game of BC2 I find. Although the game has potential it often turns into a spamfest of whatever explosives people can stack themselves with.

I've played on the Ars server quite a few nights now (Kempai Tai in BC2 also), and is in my favorites list. It's been one of the most consistently balanced servers I've played on lately. Teamplay is very encouraged, and can be very evident if you find yourself on the opposing side ... I've been steam-rolled by a squad of Ars-ians more times than I can count..

As many times as I've died at the hands of the Ars folks, it's taught me to be a better player. The hardcore mode takes a while to get used to (and the tricks to staying alive a bit longer), but I've seen my K/D ratio steadily go up thanks to my time on Ars' server.

On a side note, it seems that each class has a weapon that people love to gripe about. Engi's have the CG, Medics have the M-60, Assaults have the 40mm, and Recons... well, I just gripe about them period. There is nothing more frustrating than a player who is a damned-good Recon ... except maybe players who suck at Recon.

I think you've done a great job here putting in to words of what the ArsTechnica and Ars Clan community is really like. Job well done. Instability aside, the game is more fun to play with people you know are part of the same community. That or playing with people you can simply yell at over VOIP. It's always fun to share your enthusiasm after a knife in the back.

I used to dislike hardcore mode at first, but now it is all I look for. I like it because it seems to make all the weapons viable and evens out the balance between them. For those of you who dislike HC mode, you will appreciate it more if you try for gold stars in all the weapons. There is something satisfying taking out a whole squad of M60 users with an Uzi or using the weaker snipers guns and getting into the action (VSS with red dot and magnum ammo becomes fun, but is brutal in regular) I think I will agree with the masses and say the only exception to the balance is the infamous Hot Carl Gustav. That is a lame weapon in HC mode and much abused.

I hate hardcore. In a game about situational awareness, the 24" LCD tube in which I have to view an entire environment is already a major handicap. Removing the crosshairs isn't simply 'more realistic' but a needed visual cue about WTF is going with my 'virtual body' and general orientation. But I've played HC servers before with no problems - its not that big of a deal skill-wise, I just f-ing hate when I join a server thats HC but has no HC title listed in the server browser.

This story might seem like obvious fact to some of us but that's the problem, it's SOME of us. Those of us that it's not obvious to sadly are developers(sometimes)! While MW2 looks nice, paying $10 for a game with smaller maps, no tanks, or dedicated server support just sorta put me off of it. That stuff works on the consoles, but PC gaming doesn't have a be all end all friends list. So I agree, dedicated servers can be very important, at least when you find ones you like.

I didn't know Ars had one up an running though, might have to check it out soon.

A downloadable dedicated server package would be nice though. I'm guessing the deal to exclusively rent servers brought in some extra cash though.

I'm not a member of the ArsClan, but I do enjoy playing on the Ars Server a lot.

I do lament the fact that there is no support for user-made servers. While the dedicated server option for BC2 is better than MW2, it's still a huge step back from where we were before, and all around leaves a bad taste in my mouth. =P

I hate hardcore. In a game about situational awareness, the 24" LCD tube in which I have to view an entire environment is already a major handicap. Removing the crosshairs isn't simply 'more realistic' but a needed visual cue about WTF is going with my 'virtual body' and general orientation. But I've played HC servers before with no problems - its not that big of a deal skill-wise, I just f-ing hate when I join a server thats HC but has no HC title listed in the server browser.

Well, the bullets are heading for the centre of the screen more or less, so aim for that. You don't need a crosshair for that, although it does make it easier. I can fire most guns from the hip, it's no big problem for me, unless it's a very long range.

Hardcore is the only mode worth playing. I went out of ammo once trying to kill a medic because he was standing at long range on top of his medpack. That was with an SMG on normal mode and because of the reduced damage at that range I couldn't outdamage the healing. I really hate games with modern weapons that play like they are Quake. If they are going to use modern guns, at least make the gameplay seem like the guns are dangerous and not toys.

I'm so happy we got such a killer game with dedicated servers,but I feel as though they missed the point by 1) not allowing us to create/install are out and bigger yet 2) the inability to play this game at a LAN party, I was so excited for this game as our 100 man lans have been lacking thanks to MW2 not allowing it, and by having server be online only hosted at some third party provider somewhere really helps no more when playing at such a LAN event.

EA really acted like it understood it's PC gaming audience when going against MW2 here, but since 1) BC was console only and 2) they skipped LANplay, they have a long ways to go to prove it.

Join the Ventrilo channels (info available on the arsclan.net). It's fun, but server goes down way to much. Apparently, trying to find technical support or someone to complain to is hard.

We opened a ticket, and there are a number of admins around who can operate the server or contact me. If people are still saying it's hard to get ahold of someone to make a change, please e-mail me and we'll consider adding more admins or I can give out my cell to a few players so they can reach me personally.

My e-mail, IRC name, AIM tag, and other admins are out there. Use 'em! :-)

I really hate games with modern weapons that play like they are Quake. If they are going to use modern guns, at least make the gameplay seem like the guns are dangerous and not toys.

I hear you there. People complain about how the M60 is so powerful, and eagerly await a nerf; of COURSE it's more powerful than an assault rifle. The size of the bullet alone should make that clear. If anything, nerf the amount of grenades the assault class can get from their ammo resupply. Or don't let an Uzi take me out at 300 yards.

Then those same people are running around with Gustafs killing me point blank, without any splash damage to themselves.

I hit the Ars server last night. Had a lot of fun. A lot more teamwork than what I normally see. Medics actually go out of their way to ress you? Have not seen that often :-) . I look forward to playing with you guys more.